Mystical Landscapes in Medieval Persian Literature

Fatemeh Keshavarz is the Roshan Chair in Persian Studies & Director at Roshan Institute for Persian Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. Keshavarz works on mystical Persian poetry and is author of five monographs including Reading Mystical Lyric: The Case of Jalal al-Din Rumi and Recite in the Name of the Red Rose: Poetic Sacred Making in Twentieth Century Iran (University of South Carolina Press, 1998 & 2006). Her last monograph, Lyrics of Life: Sa’di on Love, Cosmopolitanism, and Care of the Self was published by Edinburgh University Press in 2016. Ahmet T. Karamustafa is the Professor & Chair of the Department of History at the University of Maryland, College Park. Karamustafa works on the history of medieval and early modern Sufism and Islamic piety in general. He is the author of God’s Unruly Friends (University of Utah Press, 1994) and Sufism: The Formative Period(Edinburgh University Press, 2007).

• Notes on ContributorsIntroductionFatemeh Keshavarz and Ahmet T. KaramustafaPart I. Qur’an Translations and Commentaries1. Developments in Early Persian ExegesisTravis Zadeh2. Transforming tafsir into Literature: Maybodi's Twelfth-century Commentary on the Qor'an, the Kashf al-asrârAnnabel KeelerPart II. Major Prose Genres3. Sufi Manuals/Question and AnswersJawid Mojaddedi 4. Sufi Hagiographies in PersianDevin DeWeese5. Malfuzât and Other Compilations of Sufi Oral TeachingsAmina M. SteinfelsPart III. Key Authors6. Ruzbehân Baqli’s Prose WorksCarl W. Ernst 7. Shari'a/Revealed Religion According to ‘Aziz-i NasafiAhmet T. KaramustafaPart IV. Sufi Poets/Poet Sufis8. The Cruelty of the Way and the Afflictions of Dīn: A Study of ʿAttar’s The Speech of the Birds’ Climactic MomentCyrus Ali Zargar9. The Ocean of the Persians: Fakhr al-DinnʿErâqi, Poet and MysticMatthew Thomas Miller10. Rumi: The Poetic Art of Speaking with the DivineFatemeh KeshavarzIndex

Mystical Landscapes in Medieval Persian Literature is a remarkable example of how outstanding academic research can highlight the dazzling beauty of Persian religious literature. This splendid volume covers a rich array of subjects that have received little attention in recent years. The editors have gathered an outstanding group of scholars to write on topics ranging from translations and commentaries on the Qur’an to Persian Sufi manuals, hagiographies, collections of precepts, wisdom literature and Sufi antinomianism. The collection is greatly enriched by powerful chapters devoted to iconic Persian Sufi poets such as ‘Attar, ‘Eraqi, and Rumi, examining transcendental love, the notions of beauty, piety, suffering, salvation through love and the quest for divine union. This groundbreaking volume is essential for the study of Persian religious literature, Sufism and Islamic Studies.